Our Last Night On Earth
by c00kiefic
Summary: A Take it or Leave it one shot, in which Hyde actually fights for our favorite girl.


**Our Last Night on Earth. **

Takes place during take it or leave it immediately after the scene where Eric tells Jackie that Hyde passed out in the beer warehouse.

A Take it or Leave it one shot, in which Hyde actually fights for our favorite girl.

I used a couple lines from the season 7 finale because I liked them, other than that, this is very AU. In other words, it has a happy ending!

Standard Disclaimer: That 70's Show is owned by a bunch of soulless pansies. I also don't own David Cassidy or The Eagles.

I actually listened to David Cassidy in order to write this, so I think the least you all could do to pay me back is to leave a review! Just kidding! No seriously, leave me a review.

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It was dark in the warehouse when Hyde woke up on the cold concrete floor; a half empty bee can still in his hand.

"Guys?" he called, already knowing they must have left. Feeling dizzy, he got up and staggered to the door.

As drunk as he was, there was only one thing on his mind, and that was the girl he was fortunate enough to call his own. He had to see her, drunk or not, he had to see her. He still wasn't sure what he was going to say to her about her ultimatum yet. Maybe if he saw her, the answer would come to him in the moment. He did know one thing though, and that was if he said I don't know, she was liable to kill him with her bare hands.

He stumbled into Donna's house. The TV was on and Eric and Donna were sitting on the couch, cuddling. Eric looked up at him and smiled. He gestured to Donna who looked up and promptly glared at him.

"Is she here?" He decided it would be best to ignore Donna's current contempt for him.

"No." She answered shortly. "She just left."

He turned to walk out, but Eric called out to him. "Hey, Hyde?"

Hyde walked back into the living room. "What is it, Forman?"

"I wouldn't wait till tomorrow to talk to her if I were you." He answered, giving his friend a pointed look. "She thinks you're going to say no."

Hyde wasn't sure if it was Eric's information, or the adrenaline of the day taking its toll, but he found his heart beating faster.

Donna stood up and pushed him out the door. "Go to her!"

Hyde couldn't help but grin at the blonde. "You're feisty."

"I told her that you would do the right thing, Hyde. Don't prove me wrong."

Eric chuckled slightly. "What are you going to tell her?"

He should have known that question was coming. Both of them were looking at him expectantly. "Well, I was thinking about letting the old quarter decide. Head's I marry Jackie, tails, nudie bar."

Eric peered at him. "So you haven't decided yet?"

"No, I've decided."

The light from her window was still on at three am, shining like a beacon in the dead of night in her otherwise still neighborhood. Hyde had often walked along the sidewalk of the pristine lawns, complete with tall oak trees and cherub fountains. He had often wondered how anyone could possibly live in a neighborhood that was so perfect, a complete contradiction to the rest of the neighborhoods in Point Place, especially his own. It was the Burkhart residence that seemed the most forbidden, it cast an ugly shadow over everything that surrounded it. He had joked that it was just a few steps away from becoming the house everyone thought was haunted.

"_How do you know it isn't?" Jackie had asked him once. _

Hyde never knew what to make of that comment, because even though she would go on for days about the virtues of Unicorns, she rarely said anything about ghosts, other than she thought Casper the friendly ghost was stupid.

He didn't know how long he stood outside her house, looking up into her room. Hyde knew that he didn't belong there, in her neighborhood, in her house, or even with her.

There were times when Hyde wasn't even sure how he ended up with her. Oh, he knew how he got her. He had waited patiently for Kelso to screw up, which he inevitably did, and then swooped in and stole her. When he had told Jackie she would find someone better, it had been true. Although, better than Kelso was a somewhat relative term. Lots of people could be considered better than Kelso. Sure, he considered himself to be one of them, but just barely.

Jackie deserved far more than what he or any of the other jerks in Point Place could ever give her. She deserved to move to Chicago, become a famous TV star and marry someone more suited for her, someone who could buy her the moon if she wanted it.

Jackie deserved all this, but the fact remained that Hyde was selfish, and even though they had their ups and downs, and she drove him crazy, he wanted to be with her. He'd work twenty four hour shifts at the record store if that's what it took to be half the man she needed him to be.

Hyde pulled out his keys from his pocket and stared at the one of her house that she had given him when she had moved back in five months ago.

"_What's this?" He asked, holding the key up. _

"_Well, I know that you don't like me moving back in with my mom, so I just… you know, just in case." She said, pointing at the key. It was her way of compromising, and they both knew that. _

"_This is to your house?" _

"_Yeah, I mean, it's easier than climbing up into my window." They shared a small smile. _

_When he didn't answer her, she made to grab the key. "Look, if you don't want it, I can just take it back." _

_He shook his head. "No, I want it." He made a big deal of putting it on his keychain. _

The door squeaked slightly when he opened it, adding another level of creepiness. He made a mental note to tell Jackie to spray wd40 on the hinges.

He opened her door slowly, in case she had fallen asleep with the light on. Instead, he found her sitting in her blue flannel pajama's at her desk, her head in her hands, elbows perched on the desk. She was muttering something to herself.

"Hey."

She quickly turned around, nearly falling out of her seat. "Steven!" She looked surprised to see him. He stepped in through the doorway and closed the door behind him. She was listening to David Cassidy.

"_I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of…" _

David Cassidy was mocking him, he was sure of it. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' He thought, 'I get it.'

_1978 _

"_So your mom won't mind if I'm here?" _

"_Oh please, she barely notices when I'm here." Jackie told him while they walked up the stairs to her room. He had been in her house before, but had never actually been in her room. Part of him wished he was back on the couch, watching Scooby Doo alone, and not where he was, which was with a spunky cheerleader he was supposed to hate. _

_Her mouth was on his as soon as they were in the room. He had no choice but to give in and wrap his arms around her. He opened one eye to look at her bedroom. _

_And instantly pulled away. "It looks like someone threw up Pepto Bismal up in here." He glared at the Peter Frampton poster on the wall. _

"_Look, do you want to criticize my room or do you want to kiss me?" _

_He stared at her incredulously. "Can't I do both?" _

_Jackie crossed her arms. "Look, Steven…" He cut her off with his mouth before she could start lecturing him. He didn't know how they made it to the bed, but he was now on top of her. Her dress was becoming bunch up at the hip and he had full access to her creamy white thighs. _

_It was him that stopped. "Steven?" _

_His mind was reeling, if he moved his hand just a little bit to the left, then he'd be at the spot he desperately wanted to be, but if he did that, then that would mean this wasn't just a fling, she'd want it to become something more, she would need it to become something more. _

_And he wasn't sure he was ready for that. _

"_This morning I woke up with this feeling, I didn't know deal with, and so I just decided to myself, I hide it to myself, and never talk about and did not go and shout it when you walked into the room… I think I love you." Hyde inwardly scowled at Jackie's taste in music. _

_Hyde frowned. "Do you want me to stop?" _

_She stared at him. "Why would I want you to stop?" _

_It was a good question. He had wanted her for awhile now, and now that he finally had her, stopping was out of the question. _

_He moved his hand slightly to the left. _

"Steven, why are you staring at me?"

He hadn't realized he was. He blinked. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" She asked.

"Camaros." He lied.

"What a coincidence!" She exclaimed, "I was thinking about ABBA!" Something close to happiness swelled in Hyde's heart when she used his sarcasm against him.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he watched as Jackie crumple up a sheet of paper in her hand.

"Nothing." He gave her a look that said he didn't believe her.

"Okay fine, I was writing you a letter saying that I left for Chicago, but I wasn't going to go."

"So you're not going then?" He knew he sounded hopeful.

She shrugged. "I really don't know." She answered. "Are you going to say yes?"

She was going to give up her dreams just for him. He should just do the noble ting and let her go already. Maybe his earlier decision hadn't been the best one. Hyde took a quarter out of his pocket. "Well, I keep flipping this thing to see what I should do, but it always comes out against me." He watched as his girlfriend frowned.

"You're letting a quarter decide our future?" She asked.

"It was either this or the magic eight ball." He joked.

Jackie shook her head. "I can't believe you sometimes."

He smirked. "I could say the same thing about you doll."

Jackie cocked her head to the side. "So which side was which?"

"Heads was I tell you that we'll get married, and tails was I let you go."

"_I'm afraid of a love for which there is no cure for." _

"So, did you really flip a coin?" Jackie asked. Hyde shrugged. "I didn't know what else to do." He admitted.

"Well, maybe we should try it again." She suggested. "Leave it up to fate." It was easier than leaving it up to their own hearts, which, as far as both of them were concerned, only got them into trouble.

"You know, this is your future we're talking about here."

She nodded. "I know." She took the quarter from his fingers and tossed the quarter into the air. They both turned to look at it.

"Tails." She said. "I guess that's it then right?"

The combination of David Cassidy and fate being against him was too much for Hyde. He got up and changed the station. He held out his hand. "Dance?"

She was crying when she walked up to him. They wrapped their arms around each other and started to dance. He could feel his shirt getting wet from her tears. His reaction was to hold her even tighter.

_Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?  
You been out ridin' fences for so long now  
Oh, you're a hard one  
I know that you got your reasons  
These things that are pleasin' you  
Can hurt you somehow_

Hyde looked over at the bed where the quarter lied. "Maybe it's defective." He said hopefully.

"Maybe." She didn't share his hope. "Or maybe it's telling us what we already know…" The words, 'You're not ready to get married' went unspoken.

_Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy  
She'll beat you if she's able   
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet _

"I meant what I said earlier, Steven, you mean the world to me."

"Yeah, but I'm…"

She rolled her eyes. "You're perfect." She kissed him softly so that he couldn't argue with him. 'And if it takes me a lifetime to convince you of it, I will.'

_Now it seems to me, some fine things  
Have been laid upon your table   
But you only want the ones that you can't get_

It was times like these when they slowed danced together when Hyde wondered how the hell he got so lucky.

_Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger  
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home  
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'  
Your prison is walking through this world all alone  
_

He tried to memorize her, the smell of her perfume, the feel of her skin, the tone of her voice. He wanted, no, needed to remember every part of her, from her physical beauty to her crazy obsessions with clothes and Disco. He wasn't sure if it was just him or not, but the song seemed to be getting louder inside his ears

_Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?  
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine  
It's hard to tell the night time from the day   
You're losin' all your highs and lows  
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?_

He didn't realize that the two had stopped swaying and were simply standing still, both letting the moment wash over them like a protective blanket. The feeling he had in his stomach was worse than the time he saw her with Kelso in the Pinciotti living room, worse than when she broke up with him for cheating on her with the nurse, even worse than when she had broken up with him three months ago.

_Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?  
Come down from your fences, open the gate  
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you   
You better let somebody love you, before it's too late_

Hyde opened his eyes as Don Henley sang the last line of the song. All this time he was trying to get an answer from a stupid quarter when what he should have done is listen to The Eagles. He didn't want to be the guy Henley sang about because he was too chicken shit to fight for the one girl who ever meant anything to him. He had just gotten her back; there was no way he was going to let her go again.

"You can't go to Chicago."

She blinked. "But, I thought we were going to listen to the quarter."

He shook his head. "Come on Jackie, both of us know that thing is wrong, besides, you don't belong in Chicago."

She raised one of her eyebrows. "And why not?"

"Because, you're tiny." He said the first thing that came to his head. "And Chicago is windy, you'll just blow away."

She frowned at him and he knew he had to come up with another reason. "You need someone to take care of you." He told her.

That served to make her smile slightly. "You don't think I can manage on my own?"

He laughed. "No."

She crossed her arms. "So, that's it, I shouldn't go to Chicago because I'm small and can't take care of myself? Because Steven, I'll have you know that right now I do want to go to Chicago just to spite you!"

This was one of those times when he knew he wasn't saying the right thing. He inwardly smacked himself and decided to put his cards on the table.

"Fine." He said. "Jackie, I don't want you to move to Chicago because…"

"Because?" She prodded.

He needed to make her understand, to make her truly get why he didn't want to go.

"Do you remember when we broke up?" Hyde asked.

Jackie nodded. "Sure I do, it happened two months ago."

"I was completely miserable during that time. I kept replaying it over and over in my head, wishing I could go back and say the right thing, but you know me, I never say the right thing."

Jackie closed her eyes. "I sure do."

Hyde took her hands. "So tell me what to say."

Jackie was confused. "What?"

"I'm not good with this kind of thing, so you need to tell me what to say to you." Hyde told her adamantly.

"Uh, okay." Jackie responded. "Well, do you want me to stay?"

Hyde nodded.

Jackie beamed and hugged him then reached up to take his glasses off. "Okay, well, first, tell me you love me."

Hyde smirked. "I think you're better than bowling."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "The actual words, Steven."

Hyde decided to give in to her demand. "I love you."

Jackie mimicked Hyde. "Of course you do."

Hyde pulled Jackie into him and started to kiss her. Jackie pulled away.

"We're not done yet."

Hyde sighed. "Fine. Go on."

Jackie smiled. "Now you need to tell me that life without me would be pointless, and you don't see how you could possibly have a future that doesn't have me in it."

"I'm now regretting this." Hyde told her.

"Say it." Jackie demanded.

Hyde felt more than just a little bit stupid. The things he did for this girl. "Life without you would be pointless and I don't see how I can possibly have any future that doesn't have you in it." He looked into her eyes, and seriously, he said, "Jackie, I can't promise we'll get married any time soon, but I want to be with you, so don't go to Chicago, please."

Jackie squealed and jumped on top of Hyde. "Of course I'll stay!" She kissed him fiercely and pushed him onto the bed.

The sun was coming up from behind the horizon, reminding Hyde that he had just been awake for twenty four hours.

"What are you doing today?" He asked.

"Calling the producer and telling him I don't want the job." She frowned. "Of course, this means I'm jobless."

He laughed into her neck. "You'll be okay." Jackie turned around on the bed to face Hyde.

"What are you doing today?"

Hyde smiled. "You."

Jackie stuck her tongue out at him. "Pig."

His response was to pull her in closer. After a few minutes, both their breathing calmed down. He looked down at his doll and saw her eyes were closed. Sighing contently, he closed his eyes.

Two months later

"Are your eyes closed?" Hyde asked as he came out of his room and into the basement where Jackie was sitting on the couch.

Jackie rolled her eyes behind the closed lids. "Yes, Steven."

"Okay, hold out your hand." Hyde ordered. Jackie did as was told and then felt her boyfriend put something in it.

"You can open your eyes now." He smiled at her as she opened her eyes. In her hand was a key.

"It's a key?" She said, picking it up.

Hyde nodded. "You're smart."

She looked at him. "But why are you giving me a key?" She put her hand to her heart. "Oh, is this a symbol of how I have the key to your heart? Oh, Steven, that's so romantic."

Hyde broke out into laughter. His girlfriend was an absolute lunatic. "No, it's the key to our new apartment."

"New what?" Jackie wasn't sure she heard him right.

Hyde nodded and took the key out of Jackie's grasp. "I signed the lease this morning."

"You signed... what?"

Hyde glared half heartedly at her. "Jackie, please snap out of it."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Steven, but this is huge! We're going to be living together!"

Hyde nodded. "Uh huh." He counted in his head. 'Three, two, one' she leapt from the couch and flew at him, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She said, leaning over to make sure he was alright. "Are you okay baby?"

Hyde reached up to rub his head. "I'm fine." He grinned at her.

"What?" She asked.

"I can see down your shirt."

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I'll have to remember that for the future."

"Next time though, can you do it on something softer? I think I might have cracked my head open." Jackie and Hyde sat up so that Jackie could make sure her boyfriend wasn't seriously hurt. "No bleeding." She told him, running her fingers through his curls. "You're good to go."

Hyde closed his eyes. "It still hurts though."

"Aww, is there something I can do?"

Hyde grinned. "Kiss it." Jackie kissed the top of his head and then moved to sit beside him. He snaked his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "You know, we're alone."

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, and?"

"Well," Hyde grinned. "You're alone and I'm alone and there's a perfectly good cot where we can be alone together."

"Hmmm." Jackie said, "You make a very persuasive case."

Hyde wiggled his eyebrows. "Race you?"

Jackie was already standing up. "Just try to catch me!" she said, running towards his room.

Hyde went and did just that.

* * *

Thanks for reading. The epilogue for The One with the Tee Shirt will be up soon. So, watch for that. 


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